Method and System for Peer-to-peer Image Streaming

ABSTRACT

A peer-to-peer image streaming system including a sharer computer including a transmitter for sending a message including a web address, a peer-to-peer image streamer for streaming image data over a network, an image store for storing digital images, a viewer computer including a peer-to-peer image viewer for interactively viewing image data over a network, and a receiver for receiving the message including the web address from the sharer computer, and a community server including an address translater for looking up an address of an image in the image store, based on the web address, and a peer-to-peer network connector connecting the peer-to-peer image streamer with the viewer computer, so that the viewer computer can interactively view the image in the image store. A method is also described and claimed.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to sharing of digital images and remoteinteractive viewing thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Peer-to-peer networking involves direct socket connections between onecomputer and another for requesting and receiving data. Peer-to-peernetworking differs fundamentally from conventional server-clientdistribution systems, in that peer-to-peer networking sets upconnections between any two client computers and transfers datatherebetween, rather than upload and download data through a centralserver.

A first client computer that has files to share can elect to make themvisible to a network of computers. A second client computer can thenexplore the files over the network, and transfer them from the firstclient computer to the second client computer using a protocol, such asthe conventional file transfer protocol (FTP).

Peer-to-peer networking is used to share and exchange text documents andmulti-media files, such as audio and video files.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a peer-to-peer method and system forimage streaming and interactive image viewing. Interactive image viewinginvolves navigating through a high quality image by viewing successiveportions of the image at successive resolutions, within a view window.High quality images are typically too large to display at fullresolution within a view window. Instead, the user can either view theentire image at a low resolution, or a portion of the image at a higherresolution. As a viewer pans and zooms around to inspect an image bymoving the view window left, right, up and down within the full image,and zooms in and out to magnify and reduce the image, correspondingportions of the image are displayed in the view window.

Streaming refers to a technology for delivering media data from a firstcomputer to a second computer in such a way that the viewer can play themedia on the second computer as the data is being received, without theneed to wait for a complete download of all the media data. Imagestreaming involves delivering just enough image pixel data to the secondcomputer in order for the viewer to view the specific image portion atthe specific resolution that he requests.

The present invention provides for a central community server thatmaintains a look up table of IP addresses for registered computers thatwish to share images. The look up table is used to re-direct viewercomputers from the community server to a current IP address for thecomputer that hosts the shared images.

There is thus provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention a peer-to-peer image streaming system including asharer computer including a transmitter for sending a message includinga web address, a peer-to-peer image streamer for streaming image dataover a network, an image store for storing digital images, a viewercomputer including a peer-to-peer image viewer for interactively viewingimage data over a network, and a receiver for receiving the messageincluding the web address from the sharer computer, and a communityserver including an address translater for looking up an address of animage in the image store, based on the web address, and a peer-to-peernetwork connector connecting the peer-to-peer image streamer with theviewer computer, so that the viewer computer can interactively view theimage in the image store.

There is further provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention a method for peer-to-peer image streamingincluding sending a message from a sharer computer to a viewer computer,the message containing a web address for an image, translating the webaddress into an address for an image, connecting a peer-to-peer imageserver with the viewer computer, and interactively viewing the image atthe viewer computer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully fromthe following detailed description, taken in conjunction with thedrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a first peer-to-peer imagestreaming system architecture, in accordance with a preferred embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram of a second peer-to-peer imagestreaming system architecture, in accordance with a preferred embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram of a third peer-to-peer imagestreaming system architecture, in accordance with a preferred embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram of a fourth peer-to-peer imagestreaming system architecture, in accordance with a preferred embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram of a fifth peer-to-peer imagestreaming system architecture, in accordance with a preferred embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a simplified flowchart of a method for peer-to-peer imagestreaming, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 7 is a simplified sketch of a prior art multi-resolution tiledimage format depicted in the form of an image pyramid.

FIG. 8A is an illustration of a sample user interface for peer-to-peerimage sharing, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8B is a simplified flow chart of a usage workflow for sharingimages, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 9A is an illustration of a sample user interface for peer-to-peerviewing of shared images, in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 9B is a simplified flow chart of a usage workflow for viewingshared images, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 10 is an illustration of interactive viewing of a shared image, byusing zoom and pan navigational functionality.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Reference is now made to FIG. 1, which is a simplified block diagram ofa first peer-to-peer image streaming system architecture, in accordancewith a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Shown in FIG. 1 isa sharer computer 110 including a peer-to-peer image server 120. Sharercomputer 110 is a client computer, operated by a user referred to as a“sharer.” Also shown in FIG. 1 is a viewer computer 130 including apeer-to-peer image viewer 140. In a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, viewer 140 is a Java applet. Viewer computer 130 is also aclient computer, operated by a user referred to as a “viewer.” Sharercomputer 110 and viewer computer 130 are part of a network of computersconnected by network connections 160.

Sharer computer and viewer computer may be conventional desktopcomputers, laptop computers, hand-held computing devices such aspersonal data assistants (PDA), wireless devices, set-top boxes orInternet appliances. As such, the various connections shown in FIG. 1,and in FIG. 2-5 that follow, may be wired or wireless connections.

Sharer computer 110 stores digital images that the sharer desires toshare with the viewer, in an image store 150. Specifically, the sharerdesires to enable viewer computer 130 to interactively view images inimage store 150.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, sharer computer 110sends a message to viewer computer 130, the message including one ormore web addresses for one or more images residing in image store 150.If viewer computer 130 does not yet have peer-to-peer image viewer 140,then sharer computer 110 includes viewer 140 within the message beingsent. The one or more web addresses in the message do not point directlyto sharer computer 110, but instead point to a community server 170.Community server 170 is also part of the network of computers, and isconnected to both sharer computer 110 and viewer computer 130 by networkconnections 160. Community server 170 includes a peer-to-peer addresstranslator 180 that looks up an IP address for peer-to-peer image server120 based on the web address. After identifying the IP address forpeer-to-peer image server 120, community server 170 instructs sharercomputer 110 to open a direct peer-to-peer socket connection betweensharer computer 110 and viewer computer 130.

In order to receive peer-to-peer image server 120, sharer computer 110preferably registers with community server 170. Community server 170provides to sharer computer 110 the peer-to-peer image server 120, aswell as the peer-to-peer image viewer 140, which sharer computer 110 canthen use on its own and distribute to viewer computers of its choice.

It should be noted that typically sharer computer 110 may not have astatic IP address, and as such its IP address is dynamic, and changesevery time sharer computer 110 connects to the network. In order to beable to identify a correct IP address, community server 170 must beaware of the IP address of peer-to-peer image server 120 at all timesthat sharer computer 110 is active on the network. In a preferredembodiment of the present invention, after registering with communityserver 170, sharer computer 110 is able to notify community server 170of its current IP address, whenever sharer computer 110 is active on thenetwork.

Preferably, sharer computer 110 notifies community server of itsidentity and its current IP address, so that community server 170 canassociate the IP address with peer-to-peer image server 120. In this waycommunity server 170 can maintain a look-up table 190 of peer-to-peerimage servers 120 and their current IP addresses. Look-up table 190enables peer-to-peer address translater 180 to direct viewers toappropriate peer-to-peer image servers. Thus when community server 170receives the web address from viewer computer 130, it can look up theappropriate IP address for peer-to-peer image server 150 therefrom.

For reasons of privacy, the web address send in the message from sharercomputer 110 to viewer computer 130 may contain an alias forpeer-to-peer image server, rather than a direct identifier.

It may be appreciated by those skilled in the art that an advantage ofusing a community server is control of operation of the peer-to-peerimage streaming system, since peer-to-peer connections between a sharercomputer and a viewer computer must be permitted by the communityserver. This enables the community server to enforce digital rightsmanagement, according to access control instructions received by sharercomputers.

It may be appreciated by those skilled in the art that peer-to-peerimage server 120 and image store 150 need not reside on sharer computer130, but may instead reside on a different computer. This leads tovarious alternatives to the system architecture depicted in FIG. 1.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2, which is a simplified block diagram ofa second peer-to-peer image streaming system architecture, in accordancewith a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 differs fromFIG. 1 in that image store 250 resides elsewhere than sharer computer110. Peer-to-peer image server 120 accesses image store 250 in order tostream image data to viewer computer 130.

Reference is now made to FIG. 3, which is a simplified block diagram ofa third peer-to-peer image streaming system architecture, in accordancewith a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 differs fromFIG. 1 in that peer-to-peer image server 320 resides elsewhere thansharer computer 110. In this embodiment, community server 170 instructspeer-to-peer image server 320 to open a direct peer-to-peer socketconnection between peer-to-peer image server 320 and viewer computer130. Peer-to-peer image server 320 access image store 150 on sharercomputer 110 in order to steam image data to viewer computer 130.

Reference is now made to FIG. 4, which is a simplified block diagram ofa fourth peer-to-peer image streaming system architecture, in accordancewith a fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 differs fromFIG. 1 in that both peer-to-peer image server 420 and image store 450reside elsewhere than sharer computer 110. In this embodiment, communityserver 170 instructs peer-to-peer image server 420 to open a directpeer-to-peer socket connection between peer-to-peer image server 420 andviewer computer 130.

The system architecture in FIG. 4 is advantageous when the sharer wantsthe images in image store 450 wants his images to be available withoutbeing responsible for ensuring that sharer computer 110 is alwaysactively connected to the network.

Reference is now made to FIG. 5, which is a simplified block diagram ofa fifth peer-to-peer image streaming system architecture, in accordancewith a fifth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 differs fromFIG. 4 in that image store 550 resides elsewhere than peer-to-peer imageserver 520.

It may be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the presentinvention includes system architectures other than those illustrated inFIGS. 1-5. For example, the peer-to-peer image server and/or the imagestore may be resident in both sharer computer 110 and also in anothercomputer. Thus, for example, a combination of the architectures in FIGS.1 and 4 can be used to enables viewers to interactively view images onsharer computer 110 and also on another computer as a reliable backup.Such architectures with multiple peer-to-peer image servers and/ormultiple image stores can be designed to ensure fault tolerance.

In all of the system architectures described, community server 170preferably maintains a look-up table 190 of peer-to-peer image serversand their IP addresses, so as to be able to direct viewers to theappropriate image servers. Preferably, peer-to-peer image servers notifycommunity server 170 of their identities and current IP addresseswhenever they are actively connected to the network. Community server170 uses this information to update look-up table 190 and keep itcurrent.

Reference is now made to FIG. 6, which is a simplified flowchart of amethod for peer-to-peer image streaming, in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is divided into threecolumns. The leftmost column indicates steps performed by a sharercomputer, such as sharer computer 110 (FIG. 1). The middle columnindicates steps performed by a community server, such as communityserver 170. The rightmost column indicates steps performed by a viewercomputer, such as viewed computer 130. Preferably, the sharer computer,the viewer computer and the community server are connected by a computernetwork, such as the Internet.

At step 605, sharer computer registers with the community server. Byregistering with community server, the sharer computer can be identifiedby the server computer whenever it connects to the network. At step 610,the community server sends a peer-to-peer image server, such aspeer-to-peer image server 120 (FIG. 1), and a viewer applet, such aspeer-to-peer image viewer 140, to the sharer computer. At step 615 thesharer computer receives the image server and the applet.

At step 620 the sharer computer sends a message to the viewer computeradvising of one or more images to be shared for interactive viewing. Themessage includes one or more web addresses for images to be viewed. Inaddition, the message contains a peer-to-peer image viewer applet, to beinstalled on the viewer computer. At step 625 the viewer computerreceives the one or more web addresses and the viewer applet from thesharer computer. If the peer-to-peer image viewer applet is not alreadyinstalled on the viewer computer, the viewer computer installs theapplet received from the sharer computer. The one or more web addressesin the message do not point directly to sharer computer. Instead theypoint to the community server. When the viewer computer browses the oneor more web addresses at step 630, the community server looks up the IPaddress of sharer computer, based on the one or more web addresses atstep 635. At step 640 the community server instructs the sharer computerto open a peer-to-peer socket connection with the viewer computer, anddirects the viewer computer to the sharer computer. At step 645 thesharer computer opens a per-to-peer socket connection with the viewercomputer. At step 650 the viewer computer interactively views images onthe sharer computer, and at step 655 the sharer computer streams imagedata to the viewer computer as required.

It may be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the methoddepicted in FIG. 6 corresponds to the system embodiment illustrated inFIG. 1, and that figures similar to FIG. 6 can be generated tocorrespond to the alternative system embodiments of FIG. 2-5.

It may also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that in additionto interactive viewing of the images shared by the sharer, the sharermay also enable the viewer to perform other actions, such as printingshared images, editing shared images, downloading shared images andposting shared images on a website.

Implementation Details

“Image streaming” refers to on demand delivery of image data in responseto a user's interactive navigation of a large image. High quality imagesare too large to view in their entirety within a view window on acomputer screen, at full resolution. Instead, a user can either view anentire image within the view window at a low resolution, or view aportion of the image within the view window at a higher resolution. Auser can choose to “pan” and “zoom” within an image in order to inspectthe image. Panning corresponds to moving a view window within the image(left, right, up and down) at a fixed resolution, and zoomingcorresponds to scaling the image up (magnification) or down (reduction)in resolution. As a user zooms into higher and higher resolutions of animage, the relative portion of the image that can be displayed within aview window decreases.

Instead of sending the entire image data from a server to a clientcomputer, and requiring a user to wait the time of the download beforebeing able to view the image, image streaming operates by sending onlythe data required to display in the view window the specific imageportion at the specific resolution requested by the user. Imagestreaming is distinct from audio and video streaming in many ways.

Static vs. Dynamic Content: When playing a dynamic audio segment orwatching a dynamic video segment, a user typically makes one passthrough the media in a play mode. It is not typical for a user torecurrently move back and forth within an audio or video segment.However, when interactively inspecting a static high resolution image, auser typically does come back to the same image data; for example, byzooming in and out, or panning left and right.

Resolution: Video frames are generally of low enough resolution to fitentirely within a view window. Zooming into a single frame image withina video segment generally leads to pixelization, or a similar effectcaused by magnifying an image beyond its original resolution.

Mega-Pixel Digital Cameras: Image streaming is a newer technology thanvideo and audio streaming, arising from the emergence of high resolutionmulti-mega-pixel digital cameras in the consumer market. E-commercesites are now able to acquire compelling high resolution images ofmerchandise. Consumers are now able to share high resolution images.

Reference is now made to FIG. 7, which is a simplified sketch of a priorart multi-resolution tiled image format depicted in the form of an imagepyramid 700. An example of a multi-resolution tiled image format is theFLASHPIX® image format. FLASHIX® is a registered trademark of theDigital Imaging Group, and the specification for the FLASHPIX® format isavailable for download at http://www.digitalimaging.org.

Shown in FIG. 7 is a digital image 710 located at the bottom of imagepyramid 700. Above image 710 in the pyramid are lower resolutionsub-sampled versions of image 710, each version having half the pixeldimensions of the version below it. Thus, assuming that image 710 is512×512 pixels, an image 720 is generated from image 710 by sub-samplingdown to 256×256 pixels. An image 730 is generated from either image 710or image 720 be sub-sampling down to 128×128 pixels, and finally animage 740 is generated from either image 710, image 720 and image 730 besampling all the way down to 64×64 pixels.

Each of the images 710, 720, 730 and 740 in the pyramid are showndivided up into regions 750 called “tiles.” Consistent with thedimensions above, an individual tile is a 64×64 block of pixels. Thusimage 710 has an array of 8×8 tiles, image 720 has an array of 4×4tiles, image 730 has an array of 2×2 tiles, and image 750 is a singletile.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, image pyramid 700 isstored and accessed by a peer-to-peer image server. As a viewerinteractively navigates the image, appropriate tiles from pyramid 700are transmitted by an image server to the viewer. Assuming, for example,that the viewer has a 128×128 viewing window, an initial low-resolutionview of the entire image can be sent by the peer-to-peer image server,by delivering to the viewer tiles labeled A, B, C and D; namely, thetiles from image 730.

If the viewer requests to zoom into the top right portion of image 730;i.e., into tile B, then the four image tiles labeled E, F, G and H fromthe next layer are delivered to the viewer by the peer-to-peer imageserver. Only the top right quadrant of image 720 can be viewed withinthe viewer's 128×128 pixel view window. However, the user sees moredetail from image 720 than could be seen from image 730. The effect ofreplacing tiles A, B, C and D with tiles E, F, G and H within the viewwindow appears to the viewer as a zoom-in, or magnification.

If the viewer subsequently requests to zoom into the bottom left portionof the image in the view window; i.e., into tile G, then the four imagetiles labeled I, J, K and L from the next layer are delivered to theviewer by the peer-to-peer image server. Only the four tiles I, J, K andL from image 710 can be viewed within the viewer's 128×128 pixel viewwindow. However, the user sees more detail from image 710 than could beseen from image 720. The effect of replacing tiles E, F, G and H withtiles I, J, K and L within the view window appears to the viewer as afurther zoom-in.

If the viewer subsequently requests to pan to the right, then theadditional tiles M and N from image 710 are delivered to the viewer bythe peer-to-peer image server, so that the four tiles J, M, L and N canbe displayed. The effect of replacing tiles I, J, K and L with tiles J,M, L and N within the view window appears to the viewer as if the viewwindows has moved to the right within image 710. It is not necessary forthe peer-to-peer image server to deliver tiles J and L when the viewerpans to the right, since these tiles were previously delivered and arepreferably available in a local cache.

Further details of image streaming and tile caching can be found inapplicant's U.S. Pat. No. 5,968,120 entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FORPROVIDING ON-LINE INTERACTIVE DISPLAY OF DIGITAL IMAGE STORED AS TILESAT PLURALITY OF RESOLUTIONS OVER A SERVER-CLIENT NETWORK;” U.S. Pat. No.6,121,970 entitled “A METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR HTML-DRIVEN INTERACTIVEIMAGE CLIENT;” and U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,3433 entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEMFOR SERVER ACCESS CONTROL AND TRACKING.”

User Interface

Reference is now made to FIG. 8A, which is an illustration of a sampleuser interface for peer-to-peer image sharing, in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention. Shown in FIG. 8A is alist 810 of a user's photo albums. The user preferably selects one ormore photo albums, such as the “Trip to the Cottage” album 820. Album820 preferably contains a plurality of images related to the “Trip tothe Cottage” theme.

The user preferably selects one or more images from album 820, such asimages 830, to share with other people. The user also preferably selectspeers with whom to share the selected images, from a list 840 of groupsof people and individual people.

Reference is now made to FIG. 8B, which is a simplified flow chart of ausage workflow for sharing images, in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention. At step 850 a user who wishes toshare his photos opens a multimedia content organization application,such as applicant's PHOTOSUITE® software program. At step 860 the userselects one or more albums. At step 870 the user selects one or moreimages from each of the selected albums to share with people. At step880 the user selects groups of people and individual people, with whomto share the selected images.

Reference is now made to FIG. 9A, which is an illustration of a sampleuser interface for peer-to-peer viewing of shared images, in accordancewith a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Shown within FIG.9A is a user interface 910 for viewing a shared image 920, which ispreferably one of shared images 830 (FIG. 8A). Also shown within FIG. 9Ais a chat application 930, enabling people to view shared images andchat simultaneously.

Reference is now made to FIG. 9B, which is a simplified flow chart of ausage workflow for viewing shared images, in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention. At step 940 a user sees one or moreavailable shared images. At step 950 the user downloads a viewerapplication for interactively viewing shared images, such as theapplication depicted with user interface 910 (FIG. 9A). If the viewerapplication is already resident on the user's computer, then step 950can be skipped. At step 960 the user uses the viewer application tointeractively views one or more shared images, such as shared images 830(FIG. 8A). At step 970 the user uses an instant communication tool forreal-time char with other people who are viewing the shared images.

Reference is now made to FIG. 10, which is an illustration ofinteractive viewing of a shared image, by using zoom and pannavigational functionality. Shown in FIG. 10A is a magnified portion1010 of image 920, obtained when a user uses button 1020 to zoom intoimage 920. Button 1030 is used to zoom out of image portion 1010, andbutton 1040 is used to pan image portion 1010 in the four compassdirections (north, east, south and west). Button 1050 is used to obtaininformation about image 920, and button 1060 is used to reset thedisplayed image portion to the initial image 920.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the presentinvention is not limited by what has been particularly shown anddescribed hereinabove. Rather the present invention includescombinations and sub-combinations of the various features describedhereinabove as well as modifications and extensions thereof which wouldoccur to a person skilled in the art and which do not fall within theprior art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for peer-to-peer image streaming betweena sharer computer, a community server and a viewer computerinterconnected via a network, the method comprising: the sharer computernotifying the community server of an assigned IP address associated withthe sharer computer whenever the sharer computer connects to thenetwork; the sharer computer sending an electronic message to the viewercomputer, which message includes a web address pointing to the communityserver and information for identifying an image store, associated withthe sharer computer, in which digital images are stored; the viewercomputer connecting to the web address specified in the message therebyestablishing communication with the community server; the communityserver translating the web address into a network address for the imagestore based on the image store identification information in the messageand instructing the sharer computer to open a direct peer-to-peer socketconnection with the viewer computer and transmit one or more images inthe image store to the viewer computer; the sharer computer transmittingthe said one or more images in the image store to the viewer computervia the direct peer-to-peer socket connection between the sharercomputer and the viewer computer, whereby the viewer computer is enabledto view images from the image store associated with the sharer computerwithout requiring the viewer computer to register with the communityserver or search for images thereon.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinthe image store identification information includes an alias for thesharer computer, rather than a direct identifier.
 3. The method of claim1, including maintaining a look-up table on the community server listingcurrent IP addresses for registered sharer computers.
 4. The method ofclaim 3, including updating the look-up table when the community serverreceives a new IP address for a registered sharer computer.
 5. Themethod of claim 4, wherein the web address includes an identity of thesharer computer.
 6. The method of claim 5, including looking up an IPaddress from the look-up table, based on the identity of the sharercomputer in the web address.
 7. A peer-to-peer image streaming systemcomprising: a sharer computer, a viewer computer and a community serverinterconnected via a communication network, wherein the sharer computernotifies the community server of an assigned IP address associated withthe sharer computer whenever the sharer computer connects to thenetwork, and wherein the sharer computer includes: (i) an image storefor storing digital images, (ii) a transmitter for sending an electronicmessage over the network to the viewer computer, wherein the messageincludes a web address pointing to the community server and informationidentifying the image store, and (iii) a peer-to-peer image streamer forstreaming image data over a network; the viewer computer includes: (i) atransceiver for receiving the message from the sharer computer andconnecting the viewer computer to the web address specified in themessage, and (ii) a peer-to-peer image viewer for viewing image dataover the network; and the community server includes: (i) an addresstranslator for looking up a network address of the image store based onthe image store identification information in the message transmitted bythe sharer computer, and (ii) a peer-to-peer network connector forinstructing the peer-to-peer image streamer to open a directpeer-to-peer socket connection with the viewer computer, wherein thesharer computer sends to the viewer computer the electronic messagecomprising the web address which points to the community server, theviewer computer utilizes the transceiver to browse the web address andconnects to the community server, the community server looks up theassigned IP address of the sharer computer based on the web address, thecommunity server instructs the sharer computer to open a peer-to-peerconnection with the viewer computer and directs the viewer computer tothe sharer computer, the sharer computers opens a peer-to-peerconnection with the viewer computer and transmits images from the imagestore to the viewer computer, whereby the viewer computer is enabled toview the images from the image store associated with the sharer computerwithout requiring the viewer computer to register with the communityserver or search for images thereon.
 8. The system of claim 7, whereinthe image store identification information includes an alias for thepeer-to-peer image server, rather than a direct identifier
 9. The systemof claim 7, wherein said community server comprises a look-up tablelisting current IP addresses for registered peer-to-peer image servers.10. The system of claim 9 wherein said community server updates saidlook-up table when it receives a new IP address for a registeredpeer-to-peer sharer computer.
 11. The system of claim 10 wherein the webaddress includes an identity of said peer-to-peer image server.
 12. Thesystem of claim 11 wherein said address translator looks up an IPaddress from said look-up table, based on the identity of saidpeer-to-peer image server in the web address.